"Labour is facing growing internal tensions over 'spiteful' class war attacks on the Conservatives. Chancellor Alistair Darling said yesterday he 'didn't care' whether David Cameron was an Old Etonian and urged his party to focus on policy instead. Several other senior ministers –including Lord Mandelson, Tessa Jowell and Ed Miliband – are also said to be uneasy about the tactics." – Daily Mail

"David Cameron has hit back at Gordon Brown's dig about his Eton schooling – and branded the jibe "sad, divisive and spiteful". – The Sun

Julian Glover in The Guardian says that Cameron needs to "skewer" the Tory toff myth

"Instead of using this week to take the hard choices needed to put us back on track, it looks like Alistair Darling will bow to pressure from his neighbour and play politics with his last ever pre-Budget report." – George Osborne writing in the Daily Mail

"While much of the focus has been on whether Mr Darling will impose a windfall tax on bankers’ bonuses, George Osborne, shadow chancellor, has tabled another idea that could cause banks just as much concern. Mr Osborne has called for banks to be prevented from offsetting past losses against tax on distributed profits. “When the banks start making profits again, the banks should start paying taxes again,” the shadow chancellor told the BBC on Sunday." – FT

Andrew Lansley notes another Labour IT procurement disaster

"The multi-billion-pound NHS IT programme is to be dramatically scaled back in Alistair Darling's pre-Budget Report… Andrew Lansley, the shadow health secretary, said: ''After seven years Labour have finally acknowledged what we've said for years, that the procurement for NHS IT was costing billions and not delivering. 'The opportunity cost to the NHS also measures billions of pounds. 'This is another government IT procurement disaster, it just shows you can't trust Labour on spending efficiency.'' – Daily Telegraph

"Don't the leaked emails from the University of East Anglia show that dissent on climate change is crushed whenever it appears? "Science should always be sceptical. Questioning theories by subjecting them to rigorous testing is the foundation of scientific method – it's how our body of knowledge was built. The revelations at the University of East Anglia are deeply concerning, but our knowledge of climate change doesn't hang on this set of emails, but on the work of thousands of different scientists, pursuing many separate lines of inquiry over many years." – The Independent

Boris Johnson: If the Americans can afford to buy Cadbury, then let them

"There is a contradiction in Conservative thinking, a mixture a bit like a Cadbury Creme Egg. There is the surface toughness of free-market ideology, the hard necessity of exposure to international competition. Then beneath that is the gooey confusion of a general desire to protect old national institutions, and to honour icons of British culture, and to preserve time-honoured businesses and their dependants." – Boris Johnson in the Daily Telegraph

France sets up new camps for "migrants sneaking to the UK"

"A network of new camps has been set up for immigran
ts trying to sneak into Britain from France, the Daily Express can reveal… Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling said: “Unless we introduce tough controls on immigration and a proper border police force Britain will continue to be a magnet for people trying to smuggle their way into this country.” – Daily Express

Bercow denies writing 1980s "Sex Guide"…

"Commons Speaker John Bercow insisted that he was not the author of a guide to luring drunken women into bed… "There has been some confusion in media reports about the so-called John Bercow Sex Guide," he said in a statement. "This article was not written by me but about me, mocking the fact that I was the last person likely to express the sentiments cited in the piece." – Press Association

…as the Daily Telegraph conducts a less than scientific poll in his Buckingham constituency

"John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, may struggle to hold his seat as Conservatives angry at outspoken comments by his wife threaten to defect to the UK Independence Party… The Daily Telegraph yesterday spoke to four Conservative voters, including two party activists, who said that they would vote for Mr Farage at the general election which must be held by June." – Daily Telegraph

Wootton Bassett fears becoming political battleground at Thursday night's Question Time – The Times

And finally… Government minister backs ban on "sexist" pink toys for girls

"A war on pink toys and clothes for little girls which calls on parents to boycott shops selling sexist gifts this Christmas is being backed by a Labour minister. The Pinkstinks pressure group claims that young girls are being led up “pink alleys” by stores which target them with presents such as pink fairy wings and princess dresses… Bridget Prentice, the Justice Minister, said that she was supporting the campaign because she was concerned that shops were creating Christmas gifts which were aimed particularly at either girls or boys. She went on: “It’s about not funnelling girls into pretty, pretty jobs, but giving them aspirations and challenging them to fulfil their potential." – Daily Telegraph

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